Lamp socket



April 4, 1939. w. G. DARLEY i 2,153,366

LAMP SOCKET Filed Mar'ch 3, 1957 l fz 2z 5257/6 Invent-or.:

William-G-Dgr`ley,

b X/ j y m M ttor-hey.

Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES alsascs LAMP socxa'r William G.Darley, Cleveland IHeights, hio, assignor to General Electric Company, acorporation of New York Application March 3, 193'?, Serial No. 128,805

7 Claims.

The present invention relates to lamp sockets or holders and especiallyto lamp sockets or holders for long cylindrical lamps having a contactferrule at each end.

One object of my invention is to provide a lamp socket or holder f thistype adapted to be connected to the end of a tubular bracket wherein thelamp socket is substantially of the same diameter as` the lamp. Thisserves to give f a neat appearance to the lamp and its holder.

A further object of the invention'is to provide a socket in which thecontacts are adequately protected and which is simple in construction sothat it is capable of being manufactured at low cost.

A further object of the invention is to provide a socket which 'iseasily wired in a known way and in which the lamp is inserted andremoved by a direct linear movement and without endwise movement.

For a consideration of what I vbelievelto be novel and my invention,attention is directed to the following specification and the claimsappended thereto.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a lamp supported insockets orholders embodying my invention, the sockets being supported bya bracket; Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the xed or bracket part of thelamp socket; Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the lamp part of the socketwhich'may be termed an adapter; Fig. 4 is a. perspective view of an endof a lamp with an adapter attached thereto; Fig. 5 is a perspective viewof a stationary portion of the socket; Fig. 6 is a section taken on line6-6 of Fig. 7, and Fig. '7 is a sectional view of a lamp socket with alamp mounted therein.

Referring to the drawing, I indicates a cylindrical lamp of knownconstruction having metal contact ferrules 2 at its two ends throughwhich electrical connection is made to the lamp filament 3. In Fig. 1,the lamp is shown as being mounted in lamp sockets 4 embodying myinvention, the sockets 4 in turn being shown carried by a tubularvbracket 5 through which the conductor wires 6 extend to the sockets, itbeing understood that one wire goes to each socket. At 1 is a couplingby means of which the bracket may be mounted on a wall or other support.

The lamp socket comprises a lamp portion or adapter which is connectedto and carried by an end of the lamp and a stationary portion which iscarried by the bracket. Two lamp sockets are required for each lamp, thetwo being mounted in spaced relation to each other, as shown in Fig. 1with the lamp located between them.

The lamp portion-of the socket comprises a metal disk 8 havingprojecting spring :lingers 5 8 which are adapted to engage in the usualrecess or socket 9a in the ferrule of the lamp, the fingers havingsufilcient resiliency to make good contact with the ferrule and hold theadapter rmly in engagement therewith. Projecting 10 lfrom disk 8 at anedge thereof is a forwardly ,extending contact tongue III having acontact v flange II. The metal disk 8 is carried by an insulatinghousing I2 which has an open side adapted to nt against the end of alamp and a closed side I3 provided with an opening I4 through which thetongue I0 projects. 4Extending outwardly from housing I2 adjacentopening I4 so that it overlies the tongue I8 is an integral curvedflange I5. On the peripheral edge -of disk 8 are teeth I6 which areembedded in the wall of housing I2 and serve to hold the disk rmly inposition therein. Fig. 3 4shows the two parts of the adapter ready to beassembled relatively to each other. In assembling the two parts, tongueI0 is passed through the opening I4 and the disk 8 forced intothe'housing I2, the teeth I6 biting into the wall of the housing to holdthe disk in place. Following this, the outer end of tongue III is bentdownwardly at an angle so as to be approximately parallel with the wallIii, as shown` in Fig. 4, and as will bel seen fromFig. 4, the outer endof the tongue is` housed under the curved ilange I5. In Fig. "I,`

an adapter is shown attached to the end of the o lamp I, the springfingers 8 being located in the recess 9ak in the ierrule 2. An adapterismounted onv each end of the lamp I and when in position they form insubstance a part of the lamp. although they are readily detachabletherefrom.

'I'he stationary part of the holder comprises a disk I1 of metal orother suitable material having a central projecting nipple I8. 'I'henipple and disk are providedwith a central opening I9 for the passage ofa conductor wire and 45 the nipple is counterbred and threaded to enableit to be attached to the end of tubular bracket, such as bracket 5. Thenipple may be locked on the bracket by means of a set screw 20 as shownin Fig. 1.

Attached-to the face of disk I1 is an insulating body comprising a base2i and a cap 22. I'he end of the base next to disk I1 is provided with arecess 23 which houses a bindingl post 2l. Binding post 24 threads intothe end of a hollow threaded rivet 2l which extends through base 2l andhas its ends peened over to hold it in position. In the recess 23, awasher 26 is located between the peened-over portion of the rivet andthe insulating material. The other end of the rivet holds in place aU-shaped spring contact comprising spring arms 21 and a base 20 withwhich they end of the rivet engages. This is shown particularly in Fig;2. Spring arms 21 are spaced apart a distance to 'receive and make goodcontact with the flanged end of contact tongue I0. Cap 22 ts against theend of body 2| and serves to house the U-shaped spring contact. At apoint, its periphery is cut away as indicated particularly in Fig. 5 toprovide a passage 29 for contact tongue Ill and a ary portions of thesocket are attached to the xture or bracket which is to hold the lamp.in cor- -rect spaced relation to receive a lamp between them. Thecircuit wires are connected one to each binding screw 24 as shown inFig. 7. To mount a lamp in the circuit, it is necessary merely to passthe contact tongue I radially through openings 29` into engagement withspring contact arms 28, bring curved iianges l5 into engagement withseats 30. And to remove a lamp, h

it is necessary merely to pull it out radially. 'I'his provides a verysimple way of inserting a lamp into circuit and removing it therefrom,and one requiring no end motion. Flanges I are curved to conform to thecurvature of cap 22 so that when a lamp is in position, the socketpresents a continuous smooth exterior surface. Also, the socket is aboutthe same diameter as the lamp and has no laterally projecting parts.

This serves to give a `neat pleasing appearance to an assembledstructure. f What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentof the United States is:

1. A lamp holder for a cylindrical lamp comprising a stationarycylindrical 'casing having a radially opening recess at one end, contactmeans in the recess anda cylindrical adapter of substantially the sainediameter as said casing having a contact member disposed withinthe caladapter located at the end of the casing in y recess and engaging thecontact means, the adapter being movable laterally of s aid stationarycasing 'to bring the contact means and contact member intointerengagement with the cylindriaxial alinement with the cylindricalcasing to formv a lamp holder having a substantially smooth, continuousexterior surface.

2. A lamp holder for a cylindrical lamp comprising a stationarycylindrical casing having a l cured to one end of said casing in axialalinement therewith, said passage forming a recess, U-shaped contactmeans in said recess mounted on said casing, and a binding post at theother end of said casing electrically connected to said contact.

4. An adapter for a cylindrical lamp having end ferrules comprising acylindrical member having an axially extending opening spaced from theaxis of said member, a contact carried by the member on one side of andin line with the axis of said member for connection to the end ferruleof a lamp, said contact having a plurality of teeth gripping a wall ofsaid member, and a contact tongue carried by said contact which projectslaterally through said opening and has an angulanportion located on theother side of said member in line with the axis of said member.

5. In a lamp holder, a unitary structure comprising the combination of adisk having a passage for a. conductor, a cylindrical casing having oneend ixed to an end of the disk, the adjacent disk and casing ends beingformed to provide a recess, a binding screw in the recess, the other endof the casing being provided with an enclosed recess having a radialopening, a contact in the radially opening recess electrically connectedto said binding screw, and means to secure said casing and disktogether.

6. In a lamp holder, a unitary structure comprising a cylindricalelement having a projecting nipple at one end for connecting thestructure to a bracket, a cylindrical insulating member connected at oneend to said cylindrical element, a cylindrical cap having a radiallyopening passage secured to the other end of said member, said passageforming a recess having a radial opening, a contact located in saidradially opening recess, and means to secure said cap, member andelement together.

7. A lamp holder comprising a cylindrical casing having a radiallyopening recess at one end and ati annular recess at the other end, acontact in said radial recess, a binding post in said annular recesselectrically connected to said contact, a cylindrical housing having anopening in a wall thereof and a conducting disk nested in said housingon one side of said wall and having a prong passing through said openingand being bent at an angle on the-other side of said wall to engage saidcontact with said cylindrical housing and casing in axial alinement,said conducting disk havlng spring fingers adapted to engage the ferruleof a lamp.

WILLIAM DARLEY.

